Nine Things You Need to Know About the Rarest Otters on Earth for World Wildlife Day

Today is World Wildlife Day. The UN established this holiday to recognize the economic, ecological and cultural benefits people get from wildlife — and to raise awareness about the illegal wildlife trade, which harms people and species alike. One fella who is happy about this new holiday is this unnamed hairy-nosed otter, the rarest kind of otter on the planet.

1. THERE IS ONLY 1 HAIRY-NOSED OTTER LIVING IN CAPTIVITY

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This is the only known hairy-nosed otter living in captivity. He has been living in the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center at the outskirts of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. He doesn’t even have a name yet.

2. THERE ARE THOUGHT TO BE ONLY JUST A FEW HUNDRED LEFT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

©Conservation International/Photo by Sterling Zumbrunn / Via conservation.org

This is Dara. She was previously the only hairy-nosed otter in captivity until until she died a few years ago.

3. HAIRY-NOSED OTTERS WERE ONCE THOUGHT EXTINCT

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These otters, found mostly in Cambodia, were thought to be extinct. They were rediscovered in the past decade. Camera traps have shown that there is a small population of hairy-nosed otters in the wild.

4. HAIRY-NOSED OTTERS HELP MAINTAIN HEALTHY FISH POPULATIONS

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Hairy-nosed otters live mostly in Cambodia and are particularly important to the ecology of the Tonle Sap Lake, which is the most productive inland fishery in the world. The otters help to maintain healthy fish populations in the Tonle Sap, which serves as a fish factory for all of the 15 million people living in Cambodia.

5. THE HAIRY-NOSED OTTER POPULATION IS IN JEOPARDY BECAUSE OF HUNTING

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Otters are often killed because they can swim into fish traps, remove the fish and break fishing nets. Fishermen feel very threatened by otters. Plus, otters are also sought after for their their fur, which is soft, waterproof and used either for the linings of clothing or to make hats.

6. EDUCATION CAN SAVE THE HAIRY-NOSED OTTER

©Conservation International Studios/Photo By Peter Stonier / Via conservation.org

When local communities and fishermen have learned how otters can help maintain a productive and healthy fishery, they've changed their behavior. Communities have gone out of their way to protect the otters, and there's been an increase in otter populations in the Tonle Sap.

7. ‘NO-NAME’ WAS A PET

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‘No-Name’ was donated to Phnom Tamau Rescue Center by a fisherman. The fisherman's son was in a class where he learned about the importance of conservation of otters. The boy went home and made his father give the otter to the rescue center.

8. ‘HAIRY-NOSED’ IS NOT JUST A CLEVER NAME

©Conservation International/ Photo by Sterling Zumbrunn / Via conservation.org

Mugging for the camera here, Dara is showing us how her nose-fuzz lives up to the name. Other species of otters have noses similar to those of dogs.

9. DID WE MENTION HE DOESN’T HAVE A NAME YET?

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He doesn’t have a name yet — and he doesn’t have a mate, either. The rescue center hopes to find a female hairy-nosed otter so that scientists can begin to breed the otters in captivity and release them back into the wild.

Watch the whole story!

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Learn more about the work Conservation International is doing in Cambodia to protect the world’s largest freshwater fishery, the Tonle Sap Lake.

Along with education programs in schools and communities, Conservation International also helps support the work of the Phnom Tamau Rescue Center. Learn more about it here.